Hi, Mike. I took the liberty of straightening and cropping your two shots. I think they are both have "good bones" but your presentation wasn't showing them off too well.
The sunset shot, as you mentioned, was crooked. So that's the first thing I changed. Then I cropped the photo to dimensions more reminiscent of a pano. This was done to reduce the amount of sky in the photo. Even though the sky was very pretty, it doesn't have a lot texture (clouds, vapor trails, etc.) thus didn't add a lot to the image. I also brightened and sharpened the beach/rocky area, where you do have texture of items of interest.
In the shot of the cove, I again cropped out the lower third of the cove, especially where the sandy edge intruded on the water from the lower left corner. I also sharpened the buildings some and cloned out a dust bunny in the sky. I also darkened the sky just a bit, and adjusted the color to remove a greenish tinge I found annoying. (That's personal taste, though...well, actually, everything I did was pretty much personal taste...
) I didn't straighten this shot, but maybe should have. Some people have a better eye for level horizons than I do...so I tend to get a bit sloppy.
I don't know if you'll like my changes...and will be glad to remove them if you wish...but I find it easier to show someone what I would change, than to explain it in detail.
